City to unveil West Side revitalization plan

Andrew Glazer

COSTA MESA--City-hired consultants are scheduled today to unveil a

long-awaited plan to revitalize the city’s West Side.

Elwood C. Tescher, of the Los Angeles-based EIP Associates, said he

will orally present the draft plan to the Planning Commission and the

City Council during a study session this afternoon.

“The consultants have taken a whole lot of public input,” said City

Manager Allan L. Roeder, who as of Friday still had not seen the draft.

“It will be interesting to see how they worked it into an actual plan.”

Roeder said he expects the consultants to present the city with the

full written plan later this week.

The City Council voted three years ago to develop a strategy for

improving the neighborhood’s traffic problems, decaying housing and

streets and lack of diverse retail. City planners told the council that

the area had an unusual mixture of small, family-run stores, light

industry and homes.

In the summer of 1998, EIP Associates began drafting the plan, which

was expected to be completed within a year.

But in August 1999, a group of the city’s Latino leaders -- including

business owners, lawyers and community residents -- told the council that

the consultants had neglected the input of the neighborhood’s largest

ethnic group. The West Side is 45% Latino, according to a report prepared

by a UC Irvine graduate study.

The city postponed the due date for the plan and formed the Latino

Community Advisors, made up of the same Latino leaders. The group held

meetings in the neighborhood, collecting input from Latino residents. It

also collaborated with a UC Irvine graduate urban planning class to

survey the neighborhood’s needs.

Last month, the advisors presented the City Council and its

consultants with a report, citing improved housing and shopping areas and

building a middle school as priorities.

“I’m confident about the report,” said Paty Madueno, a member of the

advisory group. “The city really did its best to hear from the whole

community.”

She said the group will continue pushing the city to include its

proposed improvements if they are not included in the draft plan.

Roeder said he expects the council will hold several community forums

in the coming months to gather more public input.

“Now we have something to work with,” he said. “I expect the plan will

have a number of options. We will have something tangible to work from.”

The study session is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. today in the

council chambers of City Hall, 77 Fair Drive.